IT WAS A nice way to bow out. Four years ago in Johannesburg, Shane Williams pulled on the Lions’ famous red jersey for the third and final Test of the tour of South Africa.
Springbok wins on the opening two weekends meant the game was little more than a dead rubber but Williams, then 32, ran in two tries and the tourists signed off on something resembling a positive note.
“I came off that field immensely proud to have, I thought, worn the British Lions shirt for the last time,” the Welsh winger recalled yesterday as he prepares to make a shock return in this morning’s penultimate warm-up against the Brumbies.
“I thought that for the last four years so to be given that opportunity again is a dream come true.”
Along with England duo Christian Wade and Brad Barritt, Williams linked up with the hobbled squad for a first training session yesterday morning. There has been precious little time for the three to acclimatise and with Gatland wrapping his main men in cotton wool, they all start this morning against one of the form sides in Super Rugby.
“Twenty-four hours ago I was in Narita waiting to catch a flight to watch the British and Irish Lions playing,” Williams laughed yesterday when asked if assistant coach Rob Howley’s phone call had caught him off guard.
“All of a sudden I’ve just finished a team session with them and I’m less than a day away from playing against one of the best teams in Australia. How do I answer that question really?”
But there was one thing that was immediately apparent to Williams when he joined the class of 2013. This group of players truly believes that they are capable of a series win and are carrying themselves with a confidence to match that.
The disappointment of those narrow losses in South Africa four years ago has only fuelled that fire, Williams says.
Definitely I think 2009 was the one that got away. We believed as a squad. We had a great tour, everyone enjoyed each other’s company, we worked hard and everyone believed we should have won that series.If we hadn’t deserved that series, it would have been easier to take. It certainly was tough to take because we believed we were the best side on that tour.
“You can sense that hunger in the likes of Warren, Rob and the players this time around. They seem a lot more focused, a bit more confident in each other’s ability. Just running alongside them now, there’s almost an arrogance running off them and they believe that they can win this series. That’s great to have.
“Some times these tours are won mentally rather than physically and they’re in a strong mental place at the moment which is great to see.”
TheScore.ie will be liveblogging all the action from Lions v Brumbies this morning from 10am.
